WWE Raw Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for December 18

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Follow along with our live WWE Raw review. Three huge matches have already been announced, plus Brock Lesnar returns to the show.

Previously on WWE Raw, Braun Strowman and Kane faced off to determine the next challenger for the Universal Championship – but both men forgot to try and win the match. All three members of The Shield were in action, with varying degrees of success. And Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt had yet another battle of the wits via satellite.

This week, the superstars of the Raw brand are going full steam ahead. First off, Brock Lesnar will be back on television. After last week’s main event didn’t produce Lesnar’s next challenger, The Beast Incarnate may have something to say about it. Well, Paul Heyman will probably say most of it. But either way, Lesnar is back. What will Kane and Braun Strowman do in response?

Three big matches have also been signed for tonight’s episode. The contest with the biggest stakes come from the Cruiserweight Division. Daily DDT favorite Drew Gulak puts the PowerPoint Presentations down long enough to face Cedric Alexander. The winner of this match becomes number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship. Will the Zo Train derail if Enzo Amore has to face Gulak? OR will Cedric make it a moot point by taking a victory?

Next, in a rematch from Tribute to the Troops, Absolution will take on the team of Bayley, Mickie James, and Sasha Banks. This match was supposed to happen on Raw a few weeks back. But Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, and Paige attacked Bayley and Mickie, leaving Sasha to fend for herself. Last week on Raw, the women’s division banded together to slow Absolution’s momentum. Will that be enough to hand the dominant trio a loss?

Finally, Seth Rollins will battle Samoa Joe. Rollins suffered a knee injury at the hands of Joe just under a year ago. The Architect has recovered, and seemingly put the war with Samoa Joe in his rear view mirror. But with Joe gunning for Roman Reigns, Rollins’ partner in The Shield, the rivalry has been renewed.

Related Story: Ranking Every WWE Royal Rumble Winner

Be sure to follow along with our live WWE Raw review right here starting at 8 p.m. ET.

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Okay, So Who Faces Brock Lesnar?

Raw starts off with Kurt Angle coming down to the ring. The embattled GM promises that by the evening’s end, he’ll figure out who Brock Lesnar’s opponent at Royal Rumble will be. Because, you know, it’s not like he’s had a whole week to sit down and think this one through. If my students procrastinated half as much as pro wrestling authority figures, none of them would ever get any work done.

Mercifully, Braun Strowman comes to the ring to plead his case. Braun reminds Angle that he ended the night upright, unlike Kane, so the Universal Title shot should belong to him. That brings out The Big Red Machine to counter with his career accomplishments. Last I checked, pro wrestling is a “what have you done for me lately” type of business, so I don’t know why Kane reading off his resume is relevant.

And, of course, because Brock Lesnar was advertised for this week’s show, out comes Paul Heyman to bring him out right off the bat. The best part of the entire segment is watching three monsters stand nearly perfectly still while Kurt Angle is slackjawed and bent-kneed like he’s about to run away. Angle very quickly makes the world’s most obvious announcement of a triple threat match and gets out of Dodge.

Once Angle is out of the way, the three match participants start a brief brawl. It ends with Lesnar hitting Kane with an F5 while Braun was outside the ring, but Kane sat up as Lesnar celebrated on the ramp. Not a bad way to try and hype a crowd for an obvious match with a terribly obvious result (Lesnar pinning Kane), though it remains to be seen how well the match shakes out.

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Seth Rollins vs. Jason Jordan

Result: Seth Rollins defeated Jason Jordan via pinfall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This match was originally advertised and scheduled to be Rollins vs. Samoa Joe. But with Rollins in the ring, Jason Jordan’s music hit, and the Gold-Blooded Superstar came down to the ring. He says he’s been waiting for a match with Joe, but now he’s done waiting. Jordan plans on taking things instead of being given them, so he’s claiming the match with Joe.

As Rollins tells Jordan to hit the bricks, he makes the mistake of mentioning Kurt Angle, and the fact that Jordan is trying too hard to please his dad. Before Jordan can respond, Joe comes to the ring with a proposition – Rollins and Jordan can face each other, with the winner “getting put to sleep by me” afterward.

Jordan controlled a big portion of the match, thanks to his meticulous attack on Seth’s back. Jordan’s repertoire is comprised of a wide variety of suplexes, so working the back only increases the effect those maneuvers have. Outside the ring, he drove Rollins spine first into the barricade, shifting it several inches.

Rollins eventually mounted a comeback, and this match ended up being pretty good. Jordan has shown in recent months that he can hang with anyone in terms of wrestling ability. And Rollins is one of the most talented superstars in the company. Putting the two of them together led to some great sequences.

The specter of Samoa Joe at ringside, of course, led to some interesting moments. Both Rollins and Jordan crossed paths with him during the match, and once Rollins secured the victory in came Joe to add some punishment. Now we’ll be getting Rollins vs. Joe (again) at some point in the future, and Jordan – also attacked by Joe before the end of the segment – still has to wait.

Anyone besides me picturing Jason Jordan eliminating Samoa Joe from the Royal Rumble match? That’s where this story is going, right?

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I Hope You Liked Seeing Rollins and Jordan for 45 Minutes, Because They’re Coming Back For More

Backstage, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are both speaking with Kurt Angle about their desire to get their hands on Samoa Joe. Dean says he “cost us the tag titles against the Europeans,” which is accurate in Dean-speak.

In waltzes Jason Jordan, who also wants a shot at Joe (still). The Shld (man, haven’t used that in a while) tell him to get in line, and Angle decides to just get it over and done with at once. Later tonight, Jordan will team with Rollins and Ambrose to face Joe, Cesaro, and Sheamus.

Quick note about Kurt Angle: Most of the time, his GM decisions are sound. But every so often, he gets Teddy Long Syndrome – everyone in his line of sight ends up in the same match. It’s frustrating, because he’s one of the few authority figures who was written to be logical. Then out of the blue, it’s “YOU’RE ALL GETTING YOUR SHOT, RIGHT NOW!”

Bray Wyatt, Uninterrupted

This week, there’s no weird back and forth between Bray Wyatt and Woken Matt Hardy. Wyatt just gets to preach all by himself. It’s weird, but that’s Bray Wyatt, right? He talks about fun and games and people getting hurt – because it’s the holiday season, you know. The Consumer of Terrestrial Entities claims he’s here to make sure the “right people” get hurt. A little dark, but okay, then.

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Finn Balor vs. Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas

Result: Finn Balor defeated Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas via disqualification

Rating: 1.75 out of 5 stars

Over the past few weeks, Finn Balor has defeated both Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas in singles matches. When he defeated Axel, he actually survived a two on one attack before the match. So this week, it becomes official – Balor would just take on both members of The Miztourage together. Surprisingly, it’s a battle of three former champions – the first ever Universal Champion, a former NXT Champion, and a former Intercontinental Champion.

At some point early on, Axel got caught with a stiff shot and soldiered through a bloody nose. This is important for what happened after the match. In all honesty, the match itself was kind of dull, and the finish pretty lame. Dallas and Axel displayed some great teamwork, but Balor hung in. Right when it looked like Finn had everything in hand, Dallas jumped into the fray without a tag, leading to a quick DQ.

As Balor was getting picked apart, Hideo Itami came down to the ring to even the odds. It’s great continuity going all the way back to Balor’s debut in NXT – remember, he was Itami’s backup against The Ascension. Having Hideo return the favor is a great move.

Even better – Itami was announced as a competitor on 205 Live. No one else in this match belongs to that roster. Could it be that some crossover between the cruiserweights and the heavyweights is in the cards?

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Finn Balor & Hideo Itami vs. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel

Result: Finn Balor & Hideo Itami defeated Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel via pinfall

Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

During the commercial break, Kurt Angle made a tag team match, meaning Itami officially made his Raw debut. And poor Curtis Axel, having to deal with taking Itami’s strikes with a busted schnozz. It’s bad enough having to get smacked by Hideo at 100%, let alone with blurry eyes and a painful nose.

The match itself here wasn’t anything super spectacular, but Itami’s debut makes it worth checking out. Giving him the hot tag spot was a brilliant decision, because the fans in attendance familiar with him popped, and everyone else got to see why.

It was a nice little showcase for Itami, who’s injury history has caused his career to stall a bit over the past few years. Remember how he debuted in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2015? Now he’s finally on Raw ready to show the world what he can do.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/942941401687384064

I just want to give the Providence crowd some props for not immediately going to “CM PUNK” chants when Itami hit the GTS to finish off Axel. No one needs that, especially when Itami innovated the move in the first place and is just taking it back. And kudos to Axel for selling it like a champ and immediately making Itami someone to be feared.

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Cedric is Ready

From one cruiserweight to the next, Cedric Alexander is pumped for his match against Drew Gulak. Hopefully, he’s not looking past Gulak to the potential title match – you can’t sleep on Drew.

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Drew Gulak (w/ Enzo Amore) vs. Cedric Alexander

Result: Cedric Alexander defeated Drew Gulak via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Once again, Drew Gulak has found a way to make me appreciate his character work even more. It’s not easy to admit that you see yourself as a “Jar Jar Binks” with a straight face, but there’s my boy doing it. Cedric interrupts before Drew can start his PowerPoint Presentation, which is infuriating, but we have a match to get to so it’s understandable.

Following the debut of Hideo Itami, Alexander and Gulak put on a heck of a match. The difference in styles allowed for a variety of offense to keep things fresh. Cedric provided topes, a Spanish Fly, and aerial attacks. Gulak countered with nasty submissions to wear his opponent down.

The presence of Enzo Amore at the announce table proved pivotal. Near the end of the match, Enzo was spotted looking at his phone (really, bro? bad form) before getting up and leaving the ringside area. Gulak – who considers Enzo to be his mentor – saw this happening, and the momentary distraction opened the door for Cedric to regain his composure. A Lumbar Check later, and it’s Cedric Alexander moving on to face Enzo Amore for the Cruiserweight Championship.

So why did Enzo get up from the announce table? Well, maybe this tweet from Nia Jax is why…

I’m on record as saying I love the Enzo/Nia story. It’s a dumb storyline, to be sure, but it’s got the potential to be so much more than the usual “wrestler has a girlfriend that’s distracting him” story.

But come on… having Drew Gulak as an unintentional third wheel is magical.

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Asuka vs. Alicia Fox

Result: Asuka defeated Alicia Fox via submission

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

Last week, Alicia Fox was supposed to face Asuka in a rematch from the week before. However, she was attacked by Absolution before the match started, leaving her unable to compete. (But she was healthy enough to join in the women’s division assault on Absolution literally 30 seconds later. Strange.)

This week, that rematch finally took place. Fox held her own for a few seconds, but this match was all Asuka. She let a beautiful missile dropkick loose midway through the match before her patented strikes softened Foxy up for the armbar submission.

As good as Asuka is in the ring, that’s how bad Booker T is on commentary. It really came to a head during this match, because Booker was so unbelievably bad here. His points made zero sense, and just left Michael Cole and Corey Graves flabbergasted. Somehow, Booker was trying to make it sound like Asuka wasn’t any good because she’s undefeated? Honestly, my brain couldn’t even comprehend the garbage spewing out into Booker’s headset.

Anyway, The Empress of Tomorrow remains undefeated. This week, there was no appearance by Absolution after Asuka’s match. My guess is (kayfabe) that they’re backstage preparing for their trios match later against Bayley, Mickie James, and Sasha Banks. So Asuka wins and escapes the ring unscathed.

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Jason Jordan, Dean Ambrose, & Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe, Cesaro, & Sheamus

Result: Samoa Joe, Cesaro, & Sheamus defeated Jason Jordan, Dean Ambrose, & Seth Rollins via pinfall

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Something I didn’t notice in the Rollins/Jordan match earlier – no Shield gear tonight. It’s more noticeable here because Ambrose is out there in his usual jeans instead of the tactical pants. What, Roman Reigns takes a week off and The Shield is dead? At least Jordan didn’t come out in a bulletproof vest or whatever, that would have been weird.

The vast majority of this match was just Rollins getting destroyed. Keep in mind, Rollins and Jordan had competed earlier in the night in a very long match. So Seth being out there for the lion’s share of the match minutes is no small feat. However, from a performance standpoint it puts his team at a disadvantage.

Normally, you would think Rollins would be the perfect participant to take a hot tag. But contextually, it makes sense for him to tag out on the hot tag – sell the damage he’s taken over the course of the entire night while letting someone else do the dirty work. That tag, though, never came.

The finish was a little out of the blue. Jordan got tossed into the timekeeper’s area, incapacitating him. Rollins kept getting denied a chance to tag out, leading to him going for a suicide dive. That dive took out Ambrose, too, who apparently suffered an injury that required the ringside doctor. In the confusion, Sheamus hit Rollins with a vicious Brogue Kick, allowing Cesaro to pick up the three count.

I’m 99% sure that the Ambrose injury is a work, because that dude never gets hurt. But whatever the case, this match was definitely one of the better matches of the night. Rollins killed it for the second match in a row, even getting whupped for the majority of this one.

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An Unexpected Arrival

Hey, Stephanie McMahon is here! (how do I put the poop emoji in here?)

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Now This I Can Appreciate

Woken Matt Hardy is playing chess against Napoleon Bonaparte, who is currently inhabiting the body of a goldfish. Sure, I can buy that. Everyone knows Napoleon played chess all the time while exiled on Elba. (Note: No one knows that.)

Anyway, Hardy plays off of Wyatt’s earlier promo about everything being “fun and games.” Chess is a game. It may not be fun – at least to me, because I’m awful at it – but it’s definitely a game. And Hardy references the centuries he’s been embroiled in the Great War with Wyatt’s evil queen, Sister Abigail.

Now that things haven’t been exactly the same for a few weeks in a row, the Woken storyline is coming across much better. We always knew it was a great gimmick from Matt’s run with it in TNA/Impact. But over-repeating things too much too quickly makes it seem worse than it really is.

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Ow, My Arm

Dean Ambrose is backstage in the trainer’s room with Seth Rollins. He’s getting his arm checked out when The Bar and Samoa Joe completely disregard all patient privacy laws and annihilate their rivals.

Everything ends when Joe drops a road case on Dean’s injured arm, forcing WWE to transfer him to a “local medical facility.”

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Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder)

Result: The Revival defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno via pinfall

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

Jeez, Raw packed a lot into its three hours this week, yet Seth Rollins still wrestled for like an hour of the show. That’s nuts to me.

Not only did we get the debut of Hideo Itami, a surprise Stephanie McMahon appearance, and a huge Royal Rumble announcement, we get the return of The Revival? I thought Christmas was next week! This is great.

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The match itself is less than spectacular, but it didn’t need to be a 5-star barnburner here. Dash and Dawson just need to get their feet wet again, and Slater and Rhyno are more than capable of making opponents look good. The Top Guys control the match almost from bell to bell, before hitting the Shatter Machine for the victory.

Kudos to the announcers (well, most of them) for talking up Dash and Dawson, who need to get the crowd on their side quickly after their multiple injury layoffs since debuting in April. Corey Graves, as usual, does the best job of explaining just how good of a team The Revival is. Dash and Dawson may not take the world by storm in a singles match, but in tag matches they’re second to none.

Two interesting things backstage in this one. First, Titus Worldwide – with new head statistician Dana Brooke – were scouting the match. Who are they looking at? Future associates, or future opponents? Second, Kurt Angle stops Slater and Rhyno after the match, telling them they need to toughen up. Rhyno seems excited, but Slater is less than thrilled.

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Elias Returns

Last week, Elias was absent from Raw. And I think I speak for everyone when I say it’s damn good to see him back. Heck, I missed him so much I had to write a whole article about how great he is just to get my fix. (I think I have a problem.)

So this week, Elias is back, and all is right with the world. After announcing he’s entering the Royal Rumble, the master of song makes sure to connect with his audience, so he goes into a story about Tom Brady for the New England crowd. Personally, I believe that Elias doesn’t want to waste his time with a nobody like Tom Brady, although that could just be the bitter Jets fan in me.

Elias is all set to break out a brand new song about Roger Goodell, which you just know would have been amazing, when he’s interrupted by Snoop Dogg’s cousin Sasha Banks. Undeterred, Elias attempts to begin again – this time, he’s interrupted by award winning country singer Mickie James. Maybe it just isn’t Elias’s night.

But he’s determined to forge ahead. Loving the fact that the ladies want to walk with Elias, we make a third attempt – and out comes, uh, Bayley (sorry, I don’t know how musical she is). She tries to cheer Elias up with a hug as he dejectedly leaves the ring, but he leaves her hanging.

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Sasha Banks, Mickie James, & Bayley vs. Absolution (Paige, Mandy Rose, & Sonya Deville)

Result: Sasha Banks, Mickie James, & Bayley defeated Absolution via disqualification

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

What a disappointment this match was. I don’t use the term “cluster” all that often, especially because we’re a family friendly site and I can’t use the word that should follow it. But this was 110% a cluster of a match, segment, whatever.

For a brief moment, this had the potential to something great. But because WWE is so focused on history, and breaking new ground, the company often suffers from short-sightedness. You want to announce the first ever women’s Royal Rumble match? Don’t destroy one of your more compelling storylines just so Stephanie McMahon can come out and bring everything to a grinding halt.

The Absolution reign of terror has been great thus far, in my humble opinion. So for the first time on Raw, they’re booked in a trios match. It’s a rematch from Tribute to the Troops against Sasha Banks, Mickie James, and Bayley. It started off okay, but quickly moved to a DQ finish out of the blue. Okay, then.

As Absolution took down their opponents, out came Nia Jax, who single handedly neutralized Rose and Deville before Paige attacked from behind. Then we got a rehash of last week’s total division brawl before Stephanie came out – and everyone stopped in their tracks. Seriously? No one wanted to keep fighting? How ridiculous is that?

And then Stephanie has to remind everyone about just how great her women’s revolution/evolution has been. She has to put a spotlight on the Middle East match, which, yes, is trailblazing, but unrelated to what was just happening in the ring. It comes across as a self-aggrandizing pat on the back.

Then the reason for the whole brawl-ending appearance – Stephanie announces a women’s Royal Rumble match. It’s honestly a great moment for WWE, but the way the announcement came about was pretty awful. Wouldn’t it have been better to do the announcement with all the women on the stage or in the ring, without fighting each other first? Or let Stephanie announce it on social media, or one of the morning talk shows everyone goes on all the time?

Next: The Mount Rushmore of Women's Wrestling

Other than that, the announcement itself was great. And despite the main event match being a non-finish yet again, Raw itself was pretty good overall. What did you think?